Author's Note:

Wow, it's sure been awhile, sorry! Anyway, this one should keep you going for awhile anyway –lol. And, yes, Kim does talk with her mouth full of food in the show XD! Aaand for Ron's room description, that's canon, no seriously! Check out his room in October 31st, The New Ron and other such eppies (but not ASiT, his room is diff there).

A HUGE thank-you to my reviewers, Steppenwolf, soccergurl, Child of Gennie & Sess, Enchanted Song, Celebran, Lil, Sukari, Ace Lannigan, Jodie and Ashley ( lov ya girl XD)! Hearts to you all X3! (Unfortunately, fanfictionDOTnet doesn't love the sharp bracket and therefore I can not do heart emots ;; ) SUFFER o.o

-A.KiNG!

Instalment 04 »» Hand in Hand

A usually quiet and boring person

Will transform and bring a rhythm

-DiGi Charat, 'PartyNight'

Kim could never have been gladder to be at home from a mission. Well, there was that one time when she had Ron were travelling through the bog… she shivered involuntarily not wanted to recall that nasty memory.

"Hey, Mom, I'm home!" she declared, hauling in a staggering Ron through the front doors of her welcoming home. She took in a large sigh, savouring the sudden warmth of her house. We've been apart for far too long… There was one thing that Kim couldn't wait for, and that was a decent wash-up. She gave a side-look at Ron, she'd manage somehow; her body craved a decent clean-up.

"Kimmie!" her Mother's familiar musical tone trailed from another room to Kim's sore ears; she followed the sound into the sitting room. Her Mother was on the sofa with a mug and her Father was on the sofa as well with the television remote. The Tweebs were no-where in sight. Checking the clock, Kim took in the time for the first time since she had left the airport. It was past her brothers' bed-time, they didn't have a long weekend.

"You're lucky to-morrow isn't a school day!" Mr Possible scolded his daughter.

"If we'd known you'd been gone this long, we wouldn't have let you go," her Mother said, but her tone wasn't harsh.

Kim's aching body begged for some rest, so she led Ron to one of the armchairs; taking a seat, she graciously allowed the plush of the chair to envelope her with its wondrous comforts. The seats in the airport and even on the airplane couldn't match this comfort in the least. Ron had seated himself on the floor, laying back his head on the armchair, closing his eyes.

After taking a sip from her mug, Mrs Possible spoke: "O, Kimmie! Your friend Tara called, she asked you to call her back."

"Will do," Kim sighed, rather than said. She sunk further into the seat, slumping so far, she almost slipped right off the seat. She supposed that to her parents, she must look like a total dead-beat. In fact, Kim wondered why they hadn't asked her what had happened yet. Not that she'd tell them the full story anyway.

Sure, she could tell her parents about blowing up Drakken's ray-gun (whatever it did), being catapulted off a cliff into unknown waters, trudging through a city in the pouring rain, etc., etc… She could even tell the about confronting a street gang, her Mother would tell Kim 'Good for you for standing up for yourself!' and her Father might add, 'It's a good thing Ronald was there to protect you!'. Kim snorted.

The only part Kim was really put off telling her parents about was the area they were in, that and going into details of the going downs with the street gang.

Like the touch.

She shivered again, looking down without thinking; after all that time, Kim still felt violated and felt as if she could scrub that area a thousand times over, wondering if even that would ever lift the feeling.

Even though Kim prided herself on being self-efficient, she was glad Ron had been there. For one of the rare times that she had truly, really needed him, he had been there and had leapt fearlessly into the fray to help her. Even when the gang had been enormously buff and many, compared to a single, skinny, Ron.

In their fight, they had worked efficiently together too, she recalled. It amazed her, even now, and how aptly they had read each others thoughts in working together, not a moment had been unsynchronized. Upon reflection, Kim remembered it like a rehearsed act, everything was so perfect. Plus, they had only been stuck holding hands for a few mere hours, not used to being attached together at all.

Or were they? In another way..?

"Kimmie-cub."

Kim's closed eyes scrunched at her Father's nickname for her. It was so Pre-K. The only person who knew about her nickname besides her family was Ron (to which he never teased her about, to Kim's relief).

"What was that, Dad?" Kim asked, opening her eyes and looking wearily at her parents.

"I said you look like you could do with a bath, why don't you go wash-up and your Mother and I will have a nice meal for you and Ronald before you hit the sack, h'm?"

Kim's eyes lit up with the anticipation of food in her belly; she wasn't the only one.

"Did somebody say food?!" Ron sat up, blinking away the drear.

Mrs Possible laughed, "Only after you two wash-up. The important question is, 'Who gets first dibs on the shower?'."

She and Mr Possible laughed to themselves, expecting an all out war between Kim and Ron, bickering and squabbling like little children as to who would shower first. Instead, they found Kim and Ron to exchange a sudden nervous glance. This would be a predicament…

"Um…" Kim started, not at all sure how to go about explaining their current situation. "About that…"

Ron coughed into his fist.

"Is something wrong, Kim?" her Mother inquired, placing the mug down and giving a tired stretch.

"We'll just wash-up at the sink, I think…" Kim said slowly, she looked down at Ron who just blinked.

"Not at all Kimmie," Mr Possible eyed her dubiously, "You two are in a serious need for a good bath and I don't think I like you sitting in the armchair, Kim. You're going to march upstairs and have yourself a bath!"

And how Kim desired a bath! The fact that she felt like she'd been through hellfire and back again, plus having to be stuck to Ron meaning no bath really ticked her off.

"Look," she growled back at her Dad, "It's not my fault that we're stuck and I can't take a shower!" With that, she held up her and Ron's hands to show her parents, she even shook their hands for extra emphasis.

Her parents looked back at her wide-eyed and in shock.

"Now, Kimberly-Anne Possible, don't talk that tone with us!" Her Father shook his finger at Kim.

Kim groaned and slunk into her seat further.

Her Mother, however, was more perceptive. "You're stuck?!" she asked unbelievably.

"Thank-you for noticing, Mom!" Kim sat back up in the sofa.

Mrs Possible stood up and made her way over to where Kim and Ron were sitting. Kneeling down on the floor in front of Kim, her Mother took their hands in hers, closely inspecting their hands. Eventually, curiosity dragged Mr Possible over as well.

"I don't know how it happened, Mom," Kim said in more of a whiney voice. "We held hands, jumping off a cliff and then we found we couldn't pull our hands apart…"

She watched as Mrs Possible further inspected their hand who attempted trying to tug their hands apart with no effect. She even tried to wedge her own finger in between the pair, but Kim and Ron's skin would refuse to part.

"That's interesting," Mr Possible stroked his chin. To his wife, he said, "Are they fused? Or..?"

"Or what?" Kim asked.

But her Mother ignored her, "No, it's just like someone glued their hands together."

"At least it's not, like, conjoined twins," Ron spoke up, "You know, where their blood courses through each others bodies and-"

Kim held up a pleading hand, "Ron! Please… this is gross enough as it is."

"So… surgery wouldn't help?" Ron asked Mrs Possible.

"I wouldn't suggest it, no..." she replied, her eyes still regarding their hands. "Ron, hold Kim's other hand."

"Ok."

As he did this, Kim said to her Mom: "I talked to Wade about this, he doesn't know how it happened either, but he's working on it. You'd think we were hit by Drakken's ray, but we weren't, I swear (not like usual…)! Mom, I really need to have this worked out before to-morrow becau-" She stopped herself. She didn't mind telling her Mother about her date with Josh, it was just her Dad. He'd go on lecturing her and forbidding her, he still couldn't accept that Kim was a teenager (17!) and wanted to (gasp!) date. She quickly covered up, "Because to-morrow is the long weekend. Y'know… it'd ruin the weekend plans…"

There was a gasp. Was it something Kim said? No! Kim looked down at her hands… she was free! Kim and Ron's hands separated!

"H-how… Mom, what did you do?!" she asked, covering her gaping mouth with her newly freed hand.

"Nothing," her Mother said, "But it still doesn't solve the problem."

"But it is very interesting," Mr Possible remarked, stroking his chin.

"What do you mea-" Kim suddenly realised what they were talking about. While her hand that had been previously attached to Ron's own was free, her other, the one that Ron was asked by Mrs Possible to hold, was not. Kim tugged hard, but her hand did not budge.

"That is SO random!" Ron exclaimed. He placed his free hand on Kim's other hand (her left and his right), as soon as they held, the other pair were able to let go (Ron's left and Kim's right).

"So we can exchange hands!" Kim cried, exhilarated. She marvelled as Ron toyed with this new experience. He tried mixing, with both their rights, then both their lefts, holding hands, his palm on her back hand, his back hand in under her palm. It didn't matter what hand they were holding or how, just so long as it was one pair of hands. "Mom, how did you know?!"

"I didn't," Mrs Possible shrugged. "I was curious if your other hands would stick too, they did. I was certainly not expecting the other pair to release!"

"Try holding your Mother's hand," Mr Possible suggested.

Kim took her Mother's hand then tried to let go of Ron's.

It didn't work.

Kim tugged and Ron pulled, but their hands were just as stuck as they had been previously. Ron even tried taking Mrs Possible's hand but they wouldn't stick and his hand wouldn't release Kim's.

"So whatever's happening… requires just the both of you to hold hands. Doesn't matter the hand, just each other…" Kim's Mother mused aloud. "I've never heard of such a thing! And you have no idea how this could have happened?"

"None!" Kim protested in truth. "Believe me, if I did, Wade probably would have been able to free us by now."

"Looks like you two are in for a sleep over to-night!" Mr Possible exclaimed jovially. "Why don't you phone your parents, Ronald, and ask for permission? (Not that you really have a choice, mind…)"

"I'll be able to," Ron spoke with instant reassurance and Kim quietened. "I'd actually better pop over and pick up some of my stuff, clothes, sleeping bag, etc."

"Um, I don't think you'll need a sleeping bag, Ron…" Kim spoke rather softly.

"… True."

There was an awkward silence between the two to which her parents where blissfully unaware of for her Father responded: "Alright then. Pop over to your place, pick up your stuff, then have a good clean, alright? Then you'll have something to change into."

"Food..?" Ron asked piteously, Kim felt her own stomach begging to be heard too.

No need for the puppy-dog pout, Mrs Possible stood up with a laugh, "Yes, we'll have a meal for you two."

"Good enough for me! C'mon, KP, let's jet!"

"Whoah!"

Kim was suddenly propelled out of her seat and flown out the door in haste, Ron leading the way.

—

They had walked through the darkened streets of Middleton, past the bland suburban house, few of them had lights on at this hour. Like her Mother, Kim too, was glad that it was a long-weekend. She couldn't imagine having to wake early for a school-day what with the way she felt (never mind their stuck hands!). Yes, Kim felt like she could sleep for days on end: Rip van Kim.

Ron was hurrying her along in the lead at a brisk rate, perhaps too brisk for Kim's stumbling feet. At least this time they actually had shoes to protect their weary feet and in a clean pair of socks; Ron was flopping along in a pair of her Father's sandals, occasionally tripping over the flop and recovering his balance on the flip. Kim wasn't sure how Ron could move along so hurriedly; she had very little energy herself.

Soon enough, they arrived at Ron's front door, Kim was thankful that he lived nearby. Otherwise she'd demand her parents to drive them over to Ron's house if he lived further away. Check that, I wish he did live far away… sitting in a car is better than walking even this short distance…

Kim was barely aware of Ron who was actually talking to her, but it was all going in one ear and out the other. She turned her head lazily to watch Ron pad his pant pockets and check in the flaps of his pockets on his belt.

"You know, I think I must have left my keys at home…"

"Good thing we're here then."

Ron was silent as he took a step to look at the windows of his house. The lights upstairs were not on. Having no choice but to follow, Kim walked with Ron as he stalked around his house. The light in the kitchen was on, as was the light in the sitting room.

"At least they're up," Kim suggested optimistically. "At least we won't have to wake them."

Ron trudged back to the front door, "Ya, at least…" He rang the door-bell.

Kim waited in a few moments of silence. She peered at Ron whose expression was non-existent. From inside the house, Kim could hear movement just before the door opened.

Opening the door was Mrs Stoppable, upon seeing Kim and Ron, she opened the door wider as to let them both inside. She closed the door behind them.

Ron was about to open his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted.

"Ronald, what did you think you were doing, ringing the door-bell? Your Father's upstairs with a headache! Where are your keys?"

Kim was taken aback by the sharp attitude, but supposed her own Mother would be a little testy with her in such a predicament.

"Um, I lost them," Ron mumbled, side-stepping towards the stairs.

But his Mother wasn't done with him yet. "Lost them? Ronald, you're constantly loosing things, where did you last put them?"

"I dunno..." Ron mumbled again, looking at the television in the sitting room.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Ron instantly looked at his Mother. "Well, think where you put you keys! I'm not going to give you another set if you just keep dropping them."

"If I knew where I'd put them, they wouldn't be lost would they?" Ron voiced Kim's own thoughts.

Mrs Stoppable looked at Ron sternly, perhaps a little too stern, Kim wondered. "Don't talk that tone with me! If you don't have your keys with you next time, I'm not going to let you in the house. I don't know what I'm going to do with you all you do is cause more trouble. You're just lucky you didn't wake your Father."

"I know."

"What are you doing home so late, isn't it a school-night?"

Feeling uncomfortably ignored for this long, Kim felt like it was finally her turn to speak up. She wondered if Mrs Stoppable even knew she was there, her manner of scolding Ron wasn't the same as her Mother's and it was a bit disconcerting. Certainly if she lost her keys, her Mother would be a bit disappointed, but not by this much! The line 'all you do is cause more trouble' remained in Kim's mind.

"Excuse me, Mrs Stoppable," Kim spoke up with the utmost polite, showing a sweet smile, "But it's a long weekend, there's no school to-morrow." As Kim had thought, it appeared that Mrs Stoppable must have missed Kim there altogether, for she was certainly startled when Kim spoke out. Kim tried an angle that usually worked on parents, "Ron and I have a lot of homework to cover, so I was wondering if Ron could stay over for the night. My parents already agreed. You could ring them up, if you wanted."

Mrs Stoppable nodded slowly; taking a look at her son she returned her gaze to Kim and in a much calmer state than before, replied, "That sounds feasible for homework's sake." Then to Ron she said, "But I want you to find those keys before you leave."

"I'm, uh, pretty sure I left them on my desk," Ron said.

His Mother sighed, "They'd better," the response was non-threatening. She turned around back to the sitting room where a briefcase surrounded by piles of papers and folders decorated the sitting room table allowing Kim and Ron their leave. But she turned back to speak to Ron again, "And don't come home early in the morning, you'll wake your Father."

"I won't."

Kim tugged Ron towards the stairs, not waning to stay behind for any more awkward arguments. Ron lively followed. Their dry socked feet bounded on the stairs softly as they rushed up the stairs, Kim leading the familiar way to Ron's room on the right. They fled inside, leaving Kim to flick on the light switch.

Ron's room was normally rather dark, as the walls were painted green, a hue that Kim really couldn't put a name to, as they were both a dark green, and yet a light green at the same time. To Kim's utter shock, his room wasn't messy in the least… in fact, it was positively neat and clean, which was so peculiar for she knew his locker to be a constant state of disorientation.

His dark blue sheets were folded neatly and even his stack of textbooks that he hadn't needed for to-day were stacked precisely on his desk in front of his computer which was situated inside a closet on an angle on the right hand side of his desk; a strange formation.

Kim envied his television that was on a shelf in front of his bed; he could just sit back in bed and play video games, or even watch VHS or DVD (for he had both on the shelf). Kim scoffed to herself… and she only had a computer in her room.

For all the extra accessories that Ron's room had that Kim's did not, it only puzzled her more as to why, as he said in his own words, he wanted to spend so much time at Kim's.

"So," Kim said, with a breath, "What do we need?"

But Ron said, "Sorry about that."

"Huh?"

"Mom, she's not, uh, usually like that. I mean, I keep loosing my keys, so she's a bit ticked off, that's all. It's no big."

Kim wasn't sure about that, but she responded differently, "My Mom would be the same." (Kim tried image her Mother in the same light, but failed. She wouldn't tell Ron that though.) "Remember when I lied to both you and my parents at Hallowe'en a year ago?"

Ron snorted grumpily. "You mean when you lied to us about who you were really with? Cough, Mankey, Cough."

"I said I was sorry!" Kim wailed, "But both of my parents were really steamed at me then, I was grounded for, like, years after!" Well, lying and loosing your keys were two entirely different things, but she wasn't about to tell Ron that either.

Ron smiled back at her, seemingly relieved. Kim clapped a hand to her thigh since she couldn't clap her hands together, "Well, what are we after? Besides your keys?" And she nudged Ron playfully with her elbow, as if to make light of the whole key-encounter.

"I need a bag from my closet to pack my stuffages in."

"To the closet it is!" Kim purposely acted overly-dramatic to make Ron laugh and she marched off like a soldier over to Ron's closet. She halted before she flew the doors apart. "Do I dare..?" she drawled, eyeing Ron sceptically.

"Dare what?" Ron replied back with an equally cynical look.

"Look inside." She answered, pointing at the closet with her free hand, "Is it going to be, like, a total mess in there or what?"

"I resent that!" Ron replied brusquely, "My closet isn't… that messy."

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"One being..?"

"One being the cleanest," Kim replied smugly.

"… four!"

Kim cringed to which Ron growled. "Just open the closet ok? I swear you won't die of shock."

Kim did as she was asked. "Huh."

Shocked once again, Possible, Kim thought in wonder. Just like the outside, his closet was clean, way better than the state of his locker that was for sure. The closet wasn't that large to begin with, so there weren't many clothes inside (well, not as many as Kim had in her closet). There was a shelf above the closet for board games and stacks of magazines and on the floor was a couple of bags.

The miraculous cleanliness of Ron's room only made Kim increasingly curious. If he's this clean at home, why does he have to use my locker for his junk? He said this clean was a 'four'? I wonder what a 'one' would look like…

She placed a fist on her hip, pretending to look about in wonder, "I'm impressed…"

Ron laughed, but said nothing. Kim watched as he scrounged around on the floor for a bag of suitable size, finally pulling out a hockey bag with an old pair of skates inside which he took out.

"How much do you think I'll need to bring? Am I staying the whole weekend or what?"

"How much what?" Kim asked half-minded while shifting through Ron's minimal clothing hanging on the rack, obviously with a single hand.

"Clothing, duh."

"I hope not the whole weekend; just bring stuff for the whole weekend anyway though. You never know…" She pushed some of the clothing aside and picked one out, "How come you never wear this anymore?" Kim asked, holding it up for Ron to see. It was like his black and white baseball shirt, but this one was light brown with dark brown sleeves and collar with the number '42' on it inside a cube which was shaped like a space-ship. Kim liked it on Ron, and the cotton felt softer than his other baseball shirt.

Ron looked up, "Thought I lost it, I guess," he shrugged. "You can toss it in the bag if you want."

"I think I will!" And she did while Ron began to store the pair of skates he'd taken out into a new bag to store them. (Why not just leave them on the floor? Kim wondered.) "How come you never wear jeans anymore?"

Ron tsked her, "Because they don't have decent mole-rat sized pockets."

"A huh!" Rufus agreed, poking his head out from inside his pocket.

"What a pity," Kim murmured, her mind still afloat.

Ron perked up, "Pity?" he asked. "How so?"

Kim shrugged, "You should wear jeans more, you wear too much khaki."

"And this concerns you because..?"

Kim shrugged again, "It doesn't, it's just a suggestion."

"Suggestion noted and filed," Ron replied musically.

They spent some more time in the closet, Kim being the major player in picking out Ron's clothing. She'd pick articles out that she hadn't seen him wear in a long time and drop them into his bag.

After awhile, Ron stood up with the bag unzipped in his free hand, "Hey, KP-" Kim looked at him, her attention previously focused on his wardrobe, "I think that's enough…" Ron peered into the bag to view what exactly Kim had dumped in. He shuffled around the contents, "In fact, I think you got a little carried away there…"

Kim ignored him, "Hey, here's that shirt I bought you from Club Banana for your birthday some-odd years ago!" She turned on Ron, glaring, "How come you never wear it anymore?"

Ron backed up, taken aback, "Um, maybe because it's a winter sweater and it was summer not too long ago..?"

"Aa!" Kim laughed at her own folly, "Guess you're right there…"

"I gotta get into another drawer," Ron said, leading Kim over to his bed.

He bent down and pulled open the drawer on the side of his bed and began tossing in socks and boxers, which didn't shame either them in the least for Kim had seen Ron's underwear so many times, it was countless (his pants kept falling down). In fact, that's how they first met in Preschool.

"Ok, we're done here," Ron said, looking around his room for a final check.

"What about your keys?" Kim pointed out.

Ron turned around to look at his desk, "Right! I think they're here somewhere…"

Kim walked over to Ron's bedside desk, opening his top drawer and shuffling around inside it. "Maybe you stuffed them in here..?"

"Hey!" Ron called out, and in a swift action, he speedily shut his bedside drawer; so fast, that it almost caught Kim's hand if she didn't have a fast reaction time.

She stared at the shut drawer wide-eyed, then slowly looked at Ron, who was working hard not to look at her. "What was that about?!" Kim asked.

All she received from him was: "Help me look for my keys; I know they're here somewhere…"

"Maybe they're in the drawer…"

"No they're not." Ron replied, a little too quickly.

A coy smile spread across Kim's face, "What's in there that you don't want me to see..?"

"Nothing."

Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Please, if there was truly 'nothing' in there, why shouldn't you want me to see nothing?"

"Alright, then how about this, 'it's none of your concern'."

Ron was still not looking at her. His attention was purely focused at anything but her. Kim pondered his actions, even though her manner on the matter was light, she truly was inquisitive as to what might be lurking in Ron's drawer that he was so adamant for Kim not to see.

"Come on, Ron," Kim didn't beg or whine, instead she acted cool, bored and nonchalant, "What's in there? We've been friends since, like, Pre-K. There're no secrets between us." She paused expecting Ron to respond, when he didn't, Kim carried on, "Like, what's in there that I shouldn't see? Christmas is a long way off and my birthday was on March the twenty-fourth…" Still no response, she decided to play with him, she sang, "Maybe it's a dirty magazine"

This grabbed Ron's attention, he stood taller and snorted, even though he still wouldn't look at her. "So not!"

"Fine. Then what's in it, seriously!? I'm racking my mind here and you're giving me nothing! A hint! Give me a hint." Giving up on acting cool, she hung onto Ron's shoulder, pleading and complaining.

"Found them!" Ron exclaimed contentedly, holding up his key ring, the dangle a little plastic burrito that he had purchased from Bueno Nacho awhile back when they were selling promotional items. They had been in the bottom bed-side drawer.

Kim blew some strands of hair from her eyes and responded dryly, "Good for you." The smile of a fox crept on her face, while Ron was preoccupied with pleasing himself over finding his lost keys, Kim acted swiftly by wrenching the drawer open and immediately shuffling through the contents.

"Kim!!" Ron cried in distress, standing to her right, he clashed into her side, bashing his hip against hers quickly to try and shove her away from the drawer. Kim was prepared for this for she had rooted herself to the spot, refusing to sway.

She wished she had two hands! She rapidly shuffled through the contents, but hadn't come across any magazines yet which was what she was expecting. Ron's own free hand was trying to pull Kim's out of the drawer adding more of an obstacle.

But the amount of time she had to search the drawer was limited, Ron was putting up a decent struggle to knock his friend away from the drawer and it didn't take him long to succeed. In fact, he was so obstinate that, much to Kim's incredulity, he was able to throw her completely, knocking her off balance causing her to fall right on over. Obviously dragging himself down with her.

Kim let out a yelp as she tumbled down backwards landing on the cushioned bed with a light bounce. She tried to orientate and twist her arms into a less cumbersome position.

"Ouch much, Ron?" she grumbled rhetorically, letting her eyes come to focus… which focused instantly onto Ron. A few rapid blinks, but Ron was really right in front of her. Right on top of her.

His eyes hadn't focused yet, they were still shut from the fall. Kim lay there stunned, not really the fact that Ron had fallen on top of her, but more that he had been able to knock her down.

She watched him come to, shake his head and blink his eyes as she had.

Why should that be so much as a shock to her? Kim wondered, Ron is male after all, and even if Kim wouldn't want to be the first to admit it, males were strong physically but the fact that he had actually been able to over-power her stunned Kim nonetheless.

I mean… it's Ron It really hit home that even though he was Ron and her friend since Preschool, he could still over-power her if he wanted because even if she was usually the dominant one in their group personality-wise (her, Ron, Rufus and Wade), he was, well, a he.

In fact, Kim never really thought of him that way before. Only as 'Ron' and 'friend' and other such terms, never really as 'boy', 'man', 'male', 'him', 'he', etc.

But then hadn't he'd proven that not so long ago when the street gang had ganged up on her and Ron? Kim had fought them off and insulted them relentlessly, fought better than any boy could have, and yet they still persisted as if she was 'playing hard to get'. When Ron, however, had shown that he had meant business, they'd backed off. Why? Because he's a guy, wasn't it? Kim pondered. Well, there was the spewing blood thing too…

"Sorry about that, KP!" Ron's voice broke her flummoxed thoughts. He endeavoured to place his hand on the comforter to push himself off.

"No big…" Kim replied softly, her mind still lost in her prior thoughts. She stared at him as he flustered to push himself off. All the while, she looked at him in a different light. Which, strangely enough, was becoming easier and easier.

Curious, she thought.

"KP?" Ron called to her, brining her back to reality. Still on her back, her eyes focused on Ron's face who, while she had been lost in thought, had been able to push himself off and was now sitting beside her on the bed leaning over her. Rufus who had felt undignified by the tumble was now on his shoulder like a parrot and was glaring at her something nasty like one too. "You, uh, ok then?"

Looking up at him while lying down on his bed sent a tingle down Kim's spine, which she was very well aware of. "Yea…"

"You… gonna get up then? We can leave now, I have everything I need."

"Up… right."

"Like, now?"

"Right!" Kim's mind finally came back and she sat herself up and groomed her hair back into place with her hand.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Heh, no. Just forget the stupid drawer, I'll find it out one day."

Ron smirked, "I doubt that."

Kim playfully narrowed her eyes at him, "Wanna bet?"

"Bueno Nacho for a week!"

"Fine!" They shook their already holding hands and laughed together.

They stood up and Ron picked up his bag off the floor while stuffing his keys into his pocket. Together, they silently left the room and headed back down the stairs passing Mrs Stoppable surrounding by the masses of paperwork in the sitting room.

It wasn't long before they were on the street again, they were glad to be walking outside and not have it rain on them. Kim thought she had been rained on enough to last her a lifetime. Note she said 'rained on' and not 'water' in general, as in 'taking a bath' which she still needed to figure out a way to work around.

What if she wore a bathing suit and Ron just sat by the tub then vice versa? That could work. After all, they could at least change out of their clothes now without tearing them up since they discovered they could switch hands.

Once they had arrived back at Kim's house and were coming through the door. While taking off her shoes, she looked around the sitting room for her parents, they weren't there but their voices were coming from the kitchen. Kim had an inclination to shout out to them that she was home, but knew better otherwise she might wake her brothers upstairs.

Kim lead Ron into her kitchen, her Father was sitting at the breakfast table with rocket drafts covering the table. Apparently he was doing some last minute work on them. Mrs Possible was over by the stove and had already started working on their belated dinner.

"That was fast," her Mother said, pleasantly surprised. "Now go upstairs and wash up, I'm shocked your Mother let you in the house, you two are so dirty… look at your hair Kim!" (Kim looked up at her hair and pulled on a lock) "Maybe I should have made you wash up first."

"Except for the fact Ron didn't have anything new to change in," Kim added.

"True," her Mother nodded, returning to the food she was preparing. A delightful smell of spices wafted over to Kim's nose. Ron's too, for a smile stretched across his face and he began to tug gently on her arm as if to say 'well let's go wash up so we can eat!' Lucky for him, Kim's stomach agreed.

They left the room together and scampered up the stairs, but remembered to trudge quietly. There was a bathroom right under the stairs to Kim's loft bedroom that she decided to use. Closing the door behind them, Kim stood and stared at herself in the mirror; she truly did look amuck, it was disgusting. All that dirty rain water and not to mention the water that splashed them when the truck drove by… it all clung to her hair… was some of it actually in clumps??

"So, uh, how are we gonna do this?" Ron's voice broke her thoughts.

Kim pulled out some clean face clothes from a hip-high basket to her right. "Let's just wash our faces and arms first, ok?"

Ron placed his bag on the floor and picked up a pink facecloth with his free hand. "Got any other colours?"

Kim smiled, "It's not going to kill you, Ron."

"But damage me mentally, maybe."

"How can it when you're mentally damaged to the brink?"

"Hey!" But they both laughed, knowing it to only be nothing but a harmless retort.

The water pouring from the tap was so pristine compared to the sticky sea water and the grungy water from the city, Kim only wanted to bath in all the pure water, allowing it to swallow her body in the bath tub and shoo away all the dirt… She sighed audibly, there was no chance of that happening. Besides, even if they could do the bathing suit thing, there wasn't time for a bath.

While Kim had been fantasizing, Ron assumed she was permitting him to use the tap first. He soaked his face cloth and dowsed the poor cloth in soap.

"Be careful, Ron," Kim smirked, remembering an old saying her Mother used to say to her when she was little. "If you use too much soap, it might clean your face right off."

Ron looked at her horrified.

Kim took a step back in her laughter, a hand over her stomach, "Ron, I'm only joking! My goodness, you're so amusing!"

"I know that. It's just a disgusting thing to say," he replied haughtily. Kim watched as he began to scrub his face with the cloth. What a difference there was in colour in the areas her cleaned! Were they really that dirty?

Kim decided to find out for herself. But first she pulled out a hair tie from a small woven basket. "Hey, Ron, can you help put my hair tie in? I can't do it with one hand."

Ron dropped the face cloth, his eyes squinting through the water and soap; Kim laughed warmly. He blew the water from his face, the water splattering the mirror. He took the hair tie in his hand and together they helped stretch it around her hair numerous times. Ron's hands were still wet and water from them trickled down onto her bare neck, her body involuntarily arching her back in shock.

"It looks ok, I guess," Kim patted her hair as she checked her pulled back hair in the mirror. "I'll get Mom to fix it up downstairs."

They continued to clean up, after finishing with their faces they then began to clean their bare arms that weren't covered by their mission clothes' sleeves and hands too. Now that they knew they could switch hands it would be easy to clean the ones attached to one another.

Ron inspected himself in the mirror, "Are we gonna wash our hair too?" He gave her a side look, "Because your hair is atrocious."

"Why, thank-you," Kim retorted, "I return the compliment."

Ron grinned.

"Not yet, I'm not done cleaning myself."

"O?"

"Yea, unlike your clothing, mine has a bare midriff."

She didn't notice Ron look down at her midriff and bite his lower lip. But she did hear him say, "Well, that's one of the benefits of not being flashy."

"Ron, don't sound like Mister Barkin, for once."

"Have I before?!" Ron asked, genuinely surprised at the comment.

"Did you know he's trying to impose a strict dress code?" Kim ignored Ron, while looking down at herself while she began to clean her stomach area with the same facecloth. "That's disgusting, isn't it? I mean, what about cheer outfits? I'm seventeen! I can dress how I like, my parents don't care, not even my Dad."

"Yes, I totally agree," Ron replied while trying not to watch Kim clean herself, and the water running down her bare, flat stomach…

"Then if he does go through with it, you'll be the first to sign my petition, right?"

"Totally."

"I bet even Bonnie would." She grumbled to herself as she turned around, her back to the mirror, straining to look over her shoulder as she scrubbed her lower back, "She dresses like a slut anyway…"

"Heh," Ron replied, not out of a dirty mind, but of out of the same agreement as Kim.

Kim wasn't done yet, "… With those skimpy skirts, tight, short tops that show so much cleavage—You know, I bet she wore a water bra in eighth grade!" Kim slammed the wet cloth onto the counter which it hit like a spit ball splattering a ceiling.

Ron had no idea how to respond to that.

"Who does she think she is, huh?!" Kim raged, now totally lost in her anger. Ron knew these rants well, there was no interrupting her until she stopped to take a breather, even then it might be dangerous to interrupt. "I mean, how can her Mother let her out of the house like that?! And you can just see the boys drooling at her fat ass and fat everything else when she walks down the halls!"

"…"

"She might as well just go to school in her underwear. I can't believe Josh has to see her walk down the halls like that, it must be so embarrassing! If I were the principal, I'd suspend Bonnie for dressing like a complete tart. She's just so annoying--"

"Josh?" Ron asked.

"And another thing—huh? Yea, Josh. Why?"

Ron furrowed his brow wondering if he should tell Kim what he'd seen before, and not on only one occasion either.

"What, Ron?" Kim asked.

Ron shrugged, "I've seen them talking with each other before."

"Augh! That skimpy little whore!" Kim wailed. "Poor Josh! Bonnie throwing herself at him, that's what I mean, Ron--"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it 'her throwing herself at him'…" Ron rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. From memory, Josh's body language had been totally different, certainly not a 'poor Josh' as Kim was implying.

But Kim wouldn't listen, "That's just like Bonnie to try and steal Josh away from me! But it won't work, I know it won't. Josh is way more… um, like… well, he's not the kind to be attracted to tarts like her, that's what-"

Ron sighed and sat down on the closed toilet seat, Kim was going into another one of her rounds and this could take some time. It's not that he didn't agree with Kim about Bonnie, it was just how Kim didn't even want to hear the possibility that Josh could be attracted to Bonnie.

No, 'want' wasn't the right word, Kim couldn't hear. It was like she had an Anti-Negative Josh protection program filtering her brain. Ron let everything Kim say go in one ear and out the other, there was no use listening to this anymore. But he kept somewhat attentive for somewhere he could break in.

Finally, Kim came to a breather, shaking her head. Before she could pull the cord like a motor boat and start up again, Ron said: "Hey, Kim, shouldn't we start washing our hair? Remember something called 'dinner'?"

"That's right, Ron! Augh, why didn't you tell me earlier??"

Ron had an urge to smash his head on the porcelain.

"You're closer can you reach for the shampoo and conditioner?" she asked.

"Sure thing, KP," Ron leaned in his seat for the two bottles sitting on the metallic rack that stretched across the tub. It was too far, Ron stretched more, tugging on Kim's hand. Just a little further… too far!

Ron tipped right off his seat and landed head first sideways into the bath tub! Kim was pulled down backwards too, landing on the bathroom floor instead, her head hitting the bath tub wall.

A muffled voice: "Sorry, KP…"

Kim heaved a sigh, blowing strands of hair from her face, "Why do I have the feeling this is going to be happening a lot more in the future?"

"If it's any consolation, I've got the bottles…"

"Yay." Where was the euphoria?

Kim sat up and helped haul Ron out of the tub, his one free hand clinging two bottles to his chest.

Back at the counter, Kim filled the sink up with water, much like they had in the bathroom at the airport.

"Ladies first," Kim smiled smugly. She flipped her hair into the sink and let the water drench all of it before motioning for Ron to hand her the shampoo (she couldn't see anything because her head was bent downwards). She felt a bottle in her hand and presumed it was the shampoo, dumping it upside down, she let it ooze out onto her head. After mixing it in and scooping up all her hair so it was on top of her head in a massive ball of shampoo, she began to scrub away.

"Looks awkward," Ron commented.

"It is," Kim agreed, "At least it'll be easier for you."

"Everything's easier for me."

"Like getting a date?" Meaning this as joke, Kim had no awareness for how deep that meant to Ron, nor the irony of it.

Ron didn't respond, but it seems like he didn't have to. Kim dropped her head back into the sink and began to wash the shampoo out of her hair. "Pull the plug out, please."

Ron dunked his hand into the sink and did as he was told and turned on the tap to let the water rinse her hair. All these steps were repeated for the conditioner and the twice again for when it came turn for Ron (although his was easier and quicker. "Is there a difference between guy and girl shampoo stuff?")

A towel wrapped around Kim's hair (helped by Ron) and a towel draped around his neck, they went up to Kim's room, Ron carrying his bag. Once they were up in her room, Ron tossed his bag onto her bed and the two sat down on the edge of her bed to take a moment and think on what to do next (and more importantly: how!).

"So, I'm changing into my PJs," Kim stated, turning to face Ron slowly. "Any ideas?"

Ron pointed to her blinds over by her closet. "You could change behind there and I'll stand outside."

"Right! And when I need you to change hands, you will."

"Without looking."

"You're such a gentleman!"

Ron beamed proudly, puffing up his chest. Meanwhile, Kim reached for her pyjamas that she kept underneath her pillow during the day.

It was a little cumbersome at first, Ron having to twist his arm and stand on the other side of the blinds while his arm kept moving around –up and down, this way and that—while Kim strained to dress herself with one arm. At one point, Kim almost lost her balance and nearly brought down the blinds in her fall on top of Ron, but he on the other side balanced it out by pushing against the teetering blinds. Ron had no idea what state of dress Kim might be in when the blinds almost came done upon his head. He dared not to think on that subject any further.

"I'm done!" Came Kim's voice.

"No, already?" Ron replied sarcastically. It certainly took her long enough; Ron wasn't clocking the time, but standing with nothing to do and his arm being constantly waved about made the time feel tedious.

"Let's see how well you do," Kim snorted in return.

Ron went over to his bag and pulled out his pyjamas then took his turn to change behind the screen.

"I can't do my buttons!" Ron declared from behind the screen after finishing his dressing.

"Are you decent?" Kim asked from the other side.

"Yea."

Kim came round and helped Ron button up his pyjama shirt.

"Actually…" Kim said more to herself than to Ron. She took Ron's other left then placed her left back onto his right, but this time on the back of Ron's hand rather than holding it. "Why didn't we think of it earlier?"

Rufus balancing on top of the screen laughed at their forgetfulness.

But Ron was glad she thought of that after she helped him do the buttons.

"Come on," Kim picked up their towels from the floor and laid them on top of the toy chest beside her cheerleading megaphone. "Dinner might be ready."

Ron didn't need telling twice, with Rufus on his shoulder, they dashed down stairs silently to see what Mrs Possible could have cooked up for them. Not that it really mattered what she made, just so long as it was edible, the pair were ever so famished (Rufus too)!

Kim, in bare feet, pounded into the kitchen, Ron not far behind (obviously). "Mom!" she exclaimed a little too loudly. "Is dinner ready yet?"

"Just about," her Mother responded, currently standing by the stove with a magazine in hand. "Why don't you two take a seat at the breakfast table instead of in the dining room?"

"What did you make for dinner, Mrs Dr P.?" Ron inquired as he slid into his seat after Kim. How eager was his mouth for something to eat! The last he ate was during Lunch time and… and, well, that hadn't lasted very long. Food never lasted for very long for Ron.

"Something easy," Mrs Possible replied.

"Smells good!" Kim drummed her fingers on the kitchen table. "Where's Dad?"

"He popped upstairs to fetch a book he needed." Mrs Possible placed the magazine down and pulled on a pair of oven mitts and lifted a boiling pot off one of the elements.

"Do you need any help, Mom?" Kim asked, leaning forward to look past Ron.

"No, thank-you."

Mr Possible came in through the kitchen door and took a whiff of air, "Smells good," he smiled.

"Exactly what I said," Kim grinned.

"Ditto!" Ron and Rufus chimed.

Soon enough, Mrs Possible laid out a plate for both Kim and Ron, a delightful meal of brown rice, some pieces of chicken (which were probably leftovers from the dinner the Possible family had had earlier that day while Kim and Ron were out) with some raw vegetables on the side.

Before either Kim or Ron could dig in, they stumbled upon an obstacle. Kim and Ron were both right handed.

Ron was going to say something, something to the effect of 'I'm not going to eat with my left hand!' when Kim just rearranged their hands so Ron's left crossed across his lap to take Kim's left, leaving both their rights free for eating.

"You're really getting the hang of being stuck," Mrs Possible remarked and Mr Possible nodded.

"No big," Kim shrugged. Did she flush? Ron wondered if Kim's parents were curious as to how he and Kim had managed dressing, if they contemplated it at all.

But enough thoughts. The food was here and it was time for eating! Ron immediately picked up his spoon and commenced in eating away at the rice which was wonderfully delicious and voiced his complements to Mrs Possible. Rufus must have agreed for he began to steal away Ron's dinner, especially the rice and carrots.

As Ron ate, he took a moment to evaluate his plate and contemplate some thoughts in his mind.

"Thank-you so much for the dinner, Mom!" Kim praised. "It was nice of you to cook us something."

Mr and Mrs Possible laughed together. "As you would say, 'no big'," Mrs Possible said. "Now we've seen you safely at home and have fed you, I think your Father and I will head to bed. Something tells me you two are going to be up late, so just make sure to keep it quiet, alright?"

Kim swallowed some of her chicken, "Can do!"

"If you want anymore rice, it's in the refrigerator and you can just pop it into the microwave."

"Thanks again, Mrs Dr P." Ron said.

"Ahuh!" Rufus agreed, stuffing his face with more of Ron's rice.

Mr Possible rolled up his drafts and stacked his books. "Mind helping me to carry these upstairs, honey?" he asked his wife.

Mrs Possible picked up the rolls of drafts while Mr Possible carried the stack of books. She leaned in and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "See you two in the morning."

"Wait, before you go, can you put my hair up into a better ponytail?"

Without a response, Mrs Possible leaned over and redid Kim's ponytail.

"Thanks, Night, Mom; Night Dad!"

When they had all exchanged their 'good-nights!', Kim, Ron and Rufus were left alone in the kitchen to finish off their dinner in silence, the only noise was the clinking of the utensils and soft chewing of food, especially the crunching on carrots.

When Ron had finished his dinner, faster than Kim who was still finishing her rice, he stole one of her pieces of cucumber and said: "So, what do you propose we do?"

"Whag goh you mefn?" Kim asked through a mouthful of food.

Ron laughed, "Like, what do you want to do to-night? It's a sleep over, right? What fun activities can we unlock?"

Kim swallowed hard and waved her fork at Ron beseechingly. "I want to wake early for to-morrow, Ron. I don't want to stay up late; it's dinner, then bed."

"Sure… hey, have any ice cream?"

"Whoo, ice cream!" Rufus chirped and leapt onto Ron's shoulder.

"Yagh, hang on wahl Ah finisk my dinnerg," Kim spoke through one of her few remaining mouthfuls of food.

"That's a nasty habit," Ron laughed. Take that world, Kim talks while she eats!

A few more scoops with the spoon and her plate was clean. "Hey!" she cried, "Where's all my veggies? I only had a few." She glared at Ron and Rufus who were whistling in the other direction.

They were unsure if they should clean their plates or not, they decided on just leaving them in the sink for the morning.

"Let's see…" Kim tapped her chin as she opened the freezer door and peered inside. Ron craned his neck to look with Rufus now sitting on his head. The three shivered. "That's cold!" Kim announced.

"Just grab the ice cream and run!" Ron hissed through chattering teeth.

Kim reached in and grasped the entire ice cream bucket while Ron reached into the drawer for two spoons then they fled from the kitchen, turning the light off as they past. They flew from the kitchen to the sitting room and literally jumped onto the middle sofa centred in front of the giant plasma screen television. The entire downstairs was dark. The only light was the stars and moon outside piercing through the glass behind them.

And the only noise was the three laughing for no other reason than just being together and having fun.

"Open it," Ron whispered. He wasn't sure why he was whispering as it wasn't necessary downstairs, but the surrounding silence and darkness made one feel as if to speak in only a whisper.

Ron held the ice cream bucket down while Kim struggled to pry open the frozen lid.

"Gah!" she growled as the lid popped open and Kim stumbled backwards slightly. Licking the frost and ice cream off her fingers, she placed the lid onto the coffee table. Ron was already pushing his spoon into the frigid ice cream which had been barely eaten.

Kim and Ron sat sideways on the sofa bunched up and facing each other, the ice cream bucket in front of them both, as they ate away in silence. The flavour was cookies 'n cream.

"It's so quiet," Kim whispered.

"And dark."

"Creepy," Rufus' teeth chattered, which was probably from the ice cream, not out of fright.

"You remember that story your Dad told us when we were six about The Window Creeper?" Ron remarked while licking some access ice cream from his spoon.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Kim whispered back, frantically. "You couldn't sleep all night, you were so terrified that The Window Creeper would scratch on the windows with it's long sharp nails and…"

Ron shifted himself uncomfortably in his seat and stole a nervous look at the window to his right.

"But I'll tell you a secret," Kim said softly.

"What's that?"

"I was scared too."

"Pish, you? Scared of some faerie tale monster?"

Kim nodded, not looking at Ron, only sucking on her spoon.

Ron blinked at her. "But you were so brave! You had the flashlight and beamed it into the darkened corners for me and shouted 'I'm not afraid of you!' and stuff like that."

Kim shrugged. "Just a cover. Had to be brave… for you. That's what made me brave."

However Ron did note and take to heart that last comment, he still snorted and said: "I can be brave for myself."

More silence.

A noise.

"Whatthehellwasthat?" Ron's urgent whisper hissed.

"What?"

"I heard a noise…"

Ron stopped eating but Kim continued. "What did it sound like?"

"Like…" Ron stopped himself. Like the window? How coincidental was that?! Movement in the corner of his eyes… on the right! "KP! I think there's someone outside the window!"

Kim looked serious and dropped her spoon. "Come on Ron, what's the possibility of that?"

"It's coming from the other window!"

Kim swivelled her head around to look at the window behind her. They barely caught something disappearing below the window.

"Great Googly Moogly, there's something out there!" Ron breathed, sucking in his breath. Was it Drakken or Shego coming back with unfinished business? Or… or maybe it was monkey!

Suddenly the scratching noise which was distant, began to increase in volume… no… it was coming closer! Ron began to shiver in his seat on the sofa, the spoon in his mouth. Louder and louder! Until… it was in front of the window on their right!

Kim gasped, Ron emitted a high-pitched squeak of terror. And then…

Something leapt at Ron!

"What the h- GAAH!!!" Ron hollered, fell backwards and off the sofa almost pulling Kim down with him.

The next sound Ron could hear was laughter. Kim's laughter.

"Oh my goodness, Ron! 'Brave for yourself', hah?" Kim fell forwards, beside herself with laughter.

It was Rufus! He had been scuttling around near the windows and making that horrible scratching noise on the window! Ron growled something fierce and pulled Rufus off who was also laughing his whiskers off and threw him onto the sofa beside Kim carelessly.

"Kim!" Mr Possible's voice wavered from upstairs dangerously. "Be quiet!"

Kim clamped a hand over her mouth and winced but still continued to laugh.

Sullenly, Ron pulled himself back onto the sofa and continued to eat the ice cream.

"O, Ron, don't sulk! It was only a little bit of sleep-over fun!"

Instead of retorting, Ron's ears perked. 'It was only a little bit of sleep-over fun, that's what Kim had said, wasn't it?

Just like the old days! Ron breathed. Is it true..? Is Kim actually loosening up and perhaps, maybe, becoming more like her former self? When she wasn't afraid to have fun and laugh?

Ron decided against holding a temporary grudge, if only he could propel that hidden inner Kim out to play once again! Maybe… maybe she'd see what fun she used to have with Ron and not with Josh!

Hey, it's an idea!

Ron laughed, "Haha, good one, KP!"

Kim beamed then started to once again stuff her face with ice cream; Ron dived in with her.

After some more eating of the ice cream, Ron decided to say: "It's too quiet in here."

Some ice cream had been dribbling from the corners of Kim's mouth so she pushed it back into her mouth. "Let's turn on the TV for a bit."

With her spoon still full of ice cream, Kim leaned forward and grappled for the television remote. She pushed the ice cream bucket closer to Ron and moved closer to him too. Flicking on the TV, they kept the volume to a respectable level.

"There's nothing on but infomercials at this hour," Ron snorted his disgust.

"Infomercials can be fun though," Kim actually giggled to Ron's surprise.

The ice cream must be getting to her.

"That's true," Ron grinned.

And so began the television marathon. Time passed and Kim and Ron with Rufus on his shoulder sat together mindlessly eating away at the bucket of ice cream and began to laugh and poke jokes at the people on the infomercials.

They'd imitate them with exaggerations and laugh gleefully at how fake they all sounded. They'd even make up 'But What You Didn't Know' stories which were made up stories about what the medicine or whatever it was they were advertising really did and made up horrible side effects.

"But what you didn't know was that this wonderful, miracle cream actually took the nose right off her face!"

"Among other things!"

It was such great fun and it was indeed troublesome to remember to keep their voices low. Ron wasn't sure when he'd had so much fun like this with Kim but it must have been years, literally.

Eventually their voices grew tired so they flicked the channels and found some 'late-nite' horror flick. By the end of the movie, Kim was the only one eating the ice cream (well, 'finishing off' more accurately) with the bucket tucked between her chest and her pulled up legs. She was sitting right next to Ron now, who was right in the corner of the sofa. Although neither of them was aware of it, for they were so consumed with the extreme violence of the film, they were actually so close that each was leaning upon the other. Kim's head titled towards Ron's shoulder and Ron's onto her hair.

The credits rolled after a gruesome ending. Now Kim had finished the ice cream and was just licking her spoon, some part of her brain hoping there was still some fragment of ice cream left. She took the spoon out of her mouth, eyed it, then began poking Ron in the face with it.

Ron's glazed eyes returned to normal and he shook his head.

Kim giggled, "I think we should head up stairs now."

"Me too."

"Ohmigosh, I ate all this ice cream, the bucket's empty!" Kim laughed.

"I helped!" Ron huffed indignantly.

Kim stretched out her legs and dropped their spoons into the ice cream bucket, leaving it on the coffee table. "Ya, but I had most of it!" Kim boasted. "Did you see that guy's eyes bulging and secreting all that blood while his arm were being sawed off by the drilling thingy in the dentist's room?!"

"I didn't watch all of it," Ron admitted, "I had to look away. But I did see The Penner stabbing that woman in the throat with the pen. Oh my gosh… all that blood… What was The Penner's name again?"

"I think it was Fred," Kim laughed. "If you could win a prize for being murdered in the most gruesome of ways, how would you die?" Kim lay back down on the sofa stretching her arms (and Ron's attached) above her head then she dropped her arms over her head, casting them across Ron's lap. He had an inclination to stroke her hair, but resisted.

"I'd die… eating too much at Bueno Nacho."

"That is gruesome!" Kim giggled and Ron laughed with her. "O, let's go up stairs now! I feel a laugh attack coming on!"

It took them awhile to reach her room for they were stalking slowly and warily as if a shadow might turn itself into The Penner and start stabbing them with multi-coloured, ball-point pens that could switch to lead pencils and be shoved into their eyes. Thanks to the ice cream, it was beginning to make them twitchy, jumpy and basically all around hyper.

Once they were inside Kim's room, she stopped to close the floor door then sat down on the rug, leaning against her old toy-chest. She pulled the hair tie out of her hair and left it on the toy-chest next to the towels. Ron, having no other option, sat down beside her.

"Ron, I don't think I can sleep to-night."

"Because The Penner might get you?" he cast a genuine wary eye around the room as if the murderous fiend was lurking in the corner… under the bed… on the ceiling…

"I'm on a sugar rush."

"Then there's only one solution to that," Ron smirked, thinking of all the crazy antics they used to come up with when they were younger and on an ice cream sugar rush. A karaoke in particular came to Ron's mind.

Kim didn't even turn her head to look at Ron. She continued to stare blankly at the wall across from her. "What's that?" She began to giggle for no reason and then fell over to her right and burst into laughter. "Ohmigosh, Ron… I…" she said between laughter, "I shouldn't have had so much ice cream…" Kim struggled to take control of herself. It was plainly audible as she attempted to stop laughing only to let more giggles escape.

"But, no, really," Kim gasped lying on the floor, her hair splayed on the floor around her like a pool. A couple of more giggles emerged. "Really, what were you saying?" More laughter. "Solution? Solution rhymes with… pollution… and… constitution… oblong… tution. And prosti-"

"Kim!""

"You have freckles."

"…"

The giggles started again, soft at first, but then began to burst into full laughter. She threw her head back on the floor and laughed loudly.

"Shh!" Ron cautioned, leaning over Kim, "You're gonna wake the peoples that live here, like your brothers! Your parents won't be happy about that."

"I like that word."

"What? 'happy'?"

" 'Grillage'. It sounds like… 'grill' and … 'lage'. Sounds like a French word." She closed her eyes, giggled some more until she tossed herself over to her other side. Kim began to draw something on the toy-chest with her finger. Draw or write, Ron wasn't sure.

"You are insane when you have too much ice cream," Ron stated obviously. Rufus, now on his shoulder gave Kim a long evaluating look then looked at Ron mouthing the word 'institution'.

If only Josh Mankey could see this side of Kim. Or what more, how would Kim feel if Josh knew this side to her? Heh, I bet I'm the only one in the world Kim would let herself go loopy like this around.

"H'm…" Kim thought, scrunching up her eyebrows as she appeared to be in concentration. She turned herself over so she lay on her back and stared up at Ron who was looking down at her, concerned. Ron flushed. Was it hot in here was it just him? "Come closer…"

Ron double blinked, glanced at Rufus who shrugged and moved his face closer to Kim's. Ok. Now somebody definitely turned up the heat in the room.

For the first time since they were in the room, Kim looked at him seriously and actually stopped giggling. She even moved her face closer to Ron's, propping herself up on her elbows… so close…

"Ron…" she said softly. "I can count your freckles!! ONETWOTHREE! FOURFIVEAQUAMARINE!" She dropped back to the floor, casting her arms over her eyes and broke out into laughter so loud Ron was positive her parents must be deaf.

Ron grunted and pulled himself up, plainly disappointed with the missed opportunity. "Well, I'm not going to sit here the whole night. I'm going to the computer."

"No waaiiit!" Kim wailed on the floor reaching out with her free arm to grasp Ron's shirt, popping some of the buttons open (which really wasn't necessary since they were already holding hands). "Don't leave me!"

"I can't."

"Then what are you going to do?" She sniffed, "Are you going to pen my hand off?!" That last part sounded more like a demand.

"Yes!"

"WHAAA?!?"

Instead of 'penning' Kim's hand off, he scooped her right off the floor. Slightly embarrassed, Ron's knees buckled slightly under Kim's weight. It wasn't that Kim weighed a lot, for it was plainly obvious that she wasn't. It was just that Ron wasn't used to carrying heavy things, much less any thing that weighed more than his book bag (which could actually weigh a lot, but that was beside the point).

"I'm defying gravity!!" Kim shrieked, and fell limp in Ron's arms, laughing.

"Maybe I should have had some more ice cream," Ron thought to himself out loud. He gave Kim a sidelong look, perhaps there had been something in the ice cream because she was… well… extremely high. But then that memory of Christmas came back to Ron… which involved The Twelve Sugar Canes, Kim, tinsel and… well, Ron wasn't going to go back to that memory now.

He plopped Kim down on the floor beside the computer chair and sat himself down on the chair and turned on the computer intent on browsing the net. Rufus leapt form his shoulder onto the desk by the mouse.

"Nononono!" Kim stood up and much to Ron's shock, sat herself down on his lap sideways. "Ron, I want to show you something," she said in a hushed voice but couldn't hide the occasional giggle.

"What?" Ron asked sceptically.

"O, Ron, you're such a fr00b. Can't you ever be hyper once in, like… oh. Ok, like maybe right now?" She opened her bottom desk drawer and pointed inside. "Look…"

Ron glared at Kim then looked into the desk drawer and saw…

"Chocolates?!?!"

Kim broke into more laughter. "They're from Easter! I totally forgot them until, like… not Easter and they need to be eaten! Eaten now! By us! Can't you hear them??"

Ron watched, a smile creeping on his face as he watched Kim scoop her hands into the drawer and pull out a huge pile of little chocolate Easter eggs and Easter coins, dropping them onto her own lap, some spilling onto the floor. She picked up one of the coins and pushed it into Ron's face.

"Ron," Kim raised her voice and spoke as if the coin was speaking to him, "I'm edible and… eatable… and… yummable… eat me… eat me…"

"I thought we were going to bed soon, if we eat any more candy it'll keep us up all night and goodness knows you don't need anymore chocolate."

Kim shoved the chocolate, wrapper included, into Ron's mouth. "Since when did you become so practical?!" she huffed.

True, Ron thought, it felt like their roles have been reversed. Kim should be the one dictating to save the chocolate for the next day (later to-day, actually, Ron thought taking a look at the computer clock) and Ron should be the one bouncing around and laughing. Ok, we MUST have been hit by Drakken's beam.

"Since when did you become such a spaz?" Ron countered after spitting out the Easter coin and wiped the saliva off with his sleeve.

He hadn't meant it to be rude, just a usual retort but Kim must have taken some sort of offensive. She shrunk herself, tucking in her arms and leaning her head close to the wrapper she was peeling off a chocolate egg, her eyes softened.

"Not a spaz," she mumbled, looking disheartened. Ron felt the movement of her swinging legs underneath the chair. She said soberly, "Can't I have fun once in a while?" But the question, to Ron, seemed rhetorical.

She was right, though. Didn't they used to be like this all the time? When they were younger, before they became High School students? Those memories seemed lodged away behind an old rusty gate with lock and key in Ron's mind, but they were there and they had existed at one point in their lives. Those memories where Kim wasn't always so… so… Ron struggled to find the correct word. Not 'domineering', that was apart of Kim's Kimness.

The wrapper on the chocolate he was holding was shiny… tin foil… Ron liked shiny things. He could stare at them for hours; just give him something shiny to look at and he could lie on the floor and stare at it, immobile with a blank mind.

Although the wrapper was shiny, this time Ron's mind was not blank. He continued to strain on finding the right word for Kim. Ever since they became High School students, Kim had slowly decreased in her… well, random funness, as Ron put it best. Before, Kim wasn't always so snappy at him if he did something different or fun or spastic. No, she used to laugh and even be a bit random herself. Of course, never as much as Ron for Ron was Ron and Kim was Kim, but still.

The reason I'm reacting to Kim's… estranged outburst of randomosity is because I'm not used to it anymore. We used to be like that all the time though and I miss it, I truly do. So why am I holding back; being 'practical'? Ugh, I hate that word. He shivered.

Pulling his eyes away from the shiny wrapper was difficult, but when Ron managed to do so, he gazed at Kim, appraising her. She was still silent, sober and was progressing in opening another candy wrapper. She delicately slipped it into her mouth and chewed on it gently, her eyes glazed.

A smile crept about Ron's mouth. With his clumsy fingers, her tore the wrapper off the chocolate and brazenly tossed it onto the floor without care and popped the little delight into his mouth.

The sudden action aroused Kim's attentions and she turned her head to face him. The chocolate was already done his throat, "Hand me some more," he grinned.

A feeling swarmed inside Ron when that infectious smile spread across Kim's face and she scooped up a ton of chocolate from her lap and raised her free hand in the air, shouting, "W00T, W00T!!"

"Gah!" The abrupt movement unbalanced them on the chair and Kim and Ron along with the innocent chair came tumbling down backwards. Ron let out an unexpected shout and Kim wailed.

"Oof!" They hit the carpeted floor side by side together in laughter. The both of them.

"Kimmie!" Came Mrs Possible's dangerous voice from somewhere downstairs.

At first they fell silent in the scare of the deadly tone of voice, but soon they broke out into a quiet fit of giggles.

"I think I gagged on a chocolate," Ron coughed and hacked, pounding his chest.

"I think she was louder than us!"

Rufus, who had been lucky enough to have been sitting on the desk during the fall, bounded down and scooped up a few of the chocolates that had flown into the air during the fall for himself. Ron joined him in the grab and took a handful.

"Hallelujah, it's raining chocolates!" Kim remarked in an ecstatic whisper, honouring her Mother's demand. She opened another chocolate egg and stuffed it into her mouth.

Ron picked up a couple and did the same. "How many are there?" He asked, bewildered, looking at all the chocolates that had fallen. "Have you been stockpiling for the next millennium of something?"

"Naw, I just, like," Kim giggled with a snort that made Ron and Rufus laugh, "Never eat much of the chocolate I get for Easter and-" Kim picked up a chocolate, inspecting the wrapper. "See? This one's Christmas. Easter and Christmas. So I stuff them in the bottom drawer. I think I started the tradition when I was, like… seven or something or other."

Ron immediately began to gag on a chocolate he had been in the process of swallowing. He coughed like it was a bad hairball stuck in his throat and actually coughed it up into his hand.

"Are you telling me some of these chocolates are, like, ten years old?!?!?"

Instead of doing the expected and declaring how gross Ron was for coughing up the chocolate, Kim uncharacteristically clapped her hands in delight and laughed so continuously that tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. "Oh, Ron!" she gasped between rare breaths, "You're so entertaining!"

"Ten year old chocolate!" Ron huffed. "I didn't even check to see if there was any mould."

Rufus hacked up a chocolate too and looked at the slimy lump with a critical eye, then popped it back into his mouth with a satisfied pat on his small tummy.

"Does chocolate mould?" Kim wondered.

"It gets all…light brown… ish…"

Kim picked up another chocolate, unwrapping the covering foil, the two of them leaned in close to get a good long stare at the mini treat.

"I think it's ok…" Kim said, now squinting at it with one eye.

"That's good enough for me," Ron launched forwards and stole the treat with his mouth right from Kim's hands.

"Gah!" she cried out softly with laughter, "I'm going to get Ron-slobber all over me!"

"Gross much, huh?" Ron winked.

Kim giggled sucking on a chocolate coin, "Do you know be what the time?"

" 'Be what the time'?" Ron repeated. He has having trouble concentrating what with all the chocolate in his system. "I can't see the clock."

"Get up then."

"I can't. I'm… not in the getting up type of moods… besides, I'd have to drag you up with me."

"Noo…" Kim moaned, tossing herself onto her back and flailing her arms (yes, Ron's included) and twisted her body. "I don't want to get up."

"Then have more choco-la-té."

"We should finish off the entire stuff… so we won't be tempted to do this again," Kim hiccoughed.

Ron feebly lifted his head and kicked the still open drawer with the chocolates and guessed that there was still a substantial amount left. "Ugh…" he groaned when it dawned on him exactly how much chocolate that meant. "At least… eat what's on the floor…"

Kim lifted her head to look at the drawer, "Yea, ok, me too."

And so the commenced in finishing off the chocolates all around them, leaving the wrappers scrunched up on the floor. It was a good thing Rufus was there to help them for they probably never would have managed on their own.

All the while chocolate went down, that meant more sugar and more sugar meant even more laughter and randomness. There was never a moment of silence, someone was always talking and it was mostly Kim.

"You remember that time… with, like, that," Kim giggled, "Thing on that day?"

"Which thing?" Ron lay on his side bobbing his head up and down as if he was listening to music inside his head.

"Oh, you know, the thing with the thing and the… OHOH, no, like, the time we were, like, in the, like, mall, ya?"

"YA!" Ron flopped his hand down and began to laugh, a wrapper still in his mouth. "And you totally fell on your ass and the dude is all:-"

"-'DON'T RUN WHERE IT'S WET', 'THERE'S A SIGN HERE, DON'T' YOU KIDS READ?' and 'YOU ALL SUCK COS I HAVE SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES'! He was such a grouch and you were laughing so hard, you slipped on the wet floor and soared on your stomach into one of those stands which was selling toilet seats and they fell on you."

"I had to pay for a chipped one; it was already chipped to begin with, I promise! And then Bonnie, like, totally saw you."

"That sucked so sadly," Kim agreed pushing three chocolates into her mouth. "But then we got back at her at Bueno Nacho by constantly ordering her nacos and forced Ned to say it was from that woman in a construction hat on the other side of the restaurant!"

"Too bad you were walking around like you had a wedge up your butt the rest of the day."

"Hey, my butt hurt like hell when I fell!"

"And this little boy scout kid who was at the corner street for donations," Ron giggled and coughed on a piece of chocolate, "Approached you and offered to take your arm and walk you across the street! " Ron snorted, "Walking like a lil' ol' lady…"

"Not before one of those solicitors tried to sell you some snake-oil for your face condition."

"They're freckles!!"

Laughter certainly was a reoccurring pleasure that night.

Kim sighed, "That was one of the most embarrassing days ever."

"Yea, but it was cool. It didn't feel embarrassing." Because I was with you.

"Yea," Kim smiled. "It didn't feel bad at all, really. If it were Josh or someone I would have burst into tears!"

"Kimberly-Anne!"

Silence.

"Holy Nacos, I think your Mother is pissed like hell," Ron whispered, trying to halt his laughter.

"Shh," Ron was amazed that Kim was actually able to take control of her laughter and for a moment, Ron wondered if Kim was going to go back to being snappy and short-tempered. "Like, ohmigosh, she's coming up the stairs! Be quiet!"

Ron instantly closed his eyes and pretended to be limp.

"Ron!" Kim hissed, sitting up, "Help me clean up the chocolate wrappers!" But Ron didn't move and Kim was forced to hurriedly push as many chocolate wrappers under her bed as quickly as she could (which really wasn't all that many).

Too late, the floor door lifted and Mrs Possible's head emerged.

"Hi, Mooom" Kim smiled in a whisper meekly.

"Don't try that with me, I heard you two up here. I told you before and I'm tired of giving you warnings. It's extremely early in the morning, your brothers are (thankfully still) sleeping and your Father and I can here you in our room below!"

Kim tried to smile innocently, "I'm sorry… we'll be quiet, I promise."

Her Mother raised an eyebrow at all the candy wrappers. Rufus scuttled under the bed with more chocolates in paw. "I don't know where you got this candy, but no more for to-night! You know chocolate keeps you up late, you're lucky there's not school to-morrow."

"Sorry!"

Mrs Possible's wandering eyes fell on an immobile Ron. She blinked. "Is he… dead..?"

"No. Not yet," she grunted and gave Ron a little punt with her leg. He didn't react.

To Kim's surprise, her Mother smiled and spoke in a softer voice. "This reminds me of when you two were little."

"…"

"You two would always stay up late, eating candies and talk the night away. I'd always have to come up and tell you two to go to bed!" Her Mother chuckled taking another reminiscing look around the room. "All that's missing is the make-shift tent with the chairs and blanket…"

"And the ghost stories," Ron's dead body spoke.

Kim gave Ron another punt.

"Yes," Mrs Possible laughed softly, "That too. Now I really mean it when I say to be quiet, alright? Time to quiet down, promise?"

"Promise!" Kim replied.

"Alright, good-night!"

"Night!"

When her Mother had left and Kim heard her Mother's retreating steps returning to her own room, Kim picked up some wrappers and sprinkled them onto Ron's face like it was magic faerie dust.

"Thanks much?" Kim growled, "I only have on hand, help me clean this stuff up."

"I feel drunk."

"How would you know?" Kim replied absent-mindedly while scooping all the tin foil wrappers into a small pile. Rufus came out from under the bed and added his wrappers to the pile.

A sly grin on Kim's face, "Other than the time at Brick's party. You know, the thing with the spiked punch and Prince Wally and the-"

"YES, THANK-YOU!" Ron spoke in a rasping whisper, "I still don't remember any of that, if it weren't for the photos that were handed out the next day at school… But I wasn't talking about that. I never talk about that."

This peeked Kim's interest. "Then you mean you've had alcohol before?" She tried so hard to sound nonchalant.

"Yea."

"Where?"

"At Christmas."

"At my place?"

"No, mine."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, see," Ron sat up and leaned against the bed while pushing some wrappers on the floor into the growing pile. "My Mum brought home these huge boxes of chocolates…"

"Oh dear."

"There were some gift or something from work and, well, it was chocolate! I took the boxes and ate it all in my room that night. I thought the middles were filled with, like, something that wasn't alcohol but in the morning I had this nasty hangover! I had no idea how I had gotten it or that it was a hangover… 'Til I looked at the box and read 'brandy-filled chocolates'. I'm never repeating that again."

"Ron, you really should look before you eat," Kim didn't know whether she should grin or not, but did anyway. "Didn't your Mom find out?"

"Haha, yea. She wasn't happy in the least and Dad's all 'glare! I'm disappointed and what not!' or something to that effect, I don't really remember. They cornered me in my room when I still had the hangover and everything was mostly 'blahblah' and really fast movements that made me feel like I was in one of those spinny-tops at the fair."

"So you didn't like it?"

"Not the hangover part."

Kim knew the chocolate effect must be wearing off for she began to feel sluggish and tired. This must be the low part of the sugar rush. At least now that the low was coming, it would be easier to sleep and perhaps they wouldn't make any loud noises. She also felt like she had a bit of a stomach ache.

"Ron, I don't think I could ever gorge on chocolates with anyone else; look how much we've eaten! If Josh ever found out I ate this much chocolate and lost it this badly-"

If the after effects of the chocolate was making Kim sluggish, it was making Ron irritable. "Oh, enough with the Josh stuff, alright? We're not here to talk about Josh, can't you ever stop thinking about the art-freak?"

"Ron!" Kim cried, struggling to keep her voice in a whisper. "That's rude."

Ron shrugged, "I'm sick of hearing about him in every sentence."

"That's the chocolate speaking."

If only you knew what was speaking.

Once all the wrappers had been gathered and thrown into the trash, the few remaining chocolates were dropped back into the drawer and shut for the night. With Rufus on Ron's shoulder, Kim shut off the computer and they ambled over to the bed and flopped down.

"I think I'm going to get ready to go to sleep now," Kim stretched and yawned.

"Me too."

"I should really phone Tara…"

Ron looked at the digital clock on Kim's bed stand. "This late at night?"

"Bah, you're right. Ok, remind me to-morrow." Kim squirmed and made a little noise in her throat. "If I weren't feeling all… like a stepped on slug then I'd say we'd have to karaoke and do prank calls."

Ron chuckled, "Like those prank calls we did to the weight loss program?"

"Ya, and you'd always have to hit the high notes for me when we sang." Kim looked as if she wanted to laugh but instead made another uncomfortable sound.

"Except, you can hit the high notes now," Ron beamed at her proudly.

"Sometimes," Kim groaned and buried her head into her pink pillow.

Ron turned his head to one side, gazing at Kim, "You feeling ok?"

"I don't feel so good," Kim moaned turning to face Ron on her side.

"Yea, the chocolate inside me is kinda 'you ate too much! Of… me…' or something."

"No…" Kim's voice, which was already a whisper, lowered even more. "I don't think it's the chocolate."

"H'm?" Ron's eyes felt heavy and the lights began to sting, definitely time for sleep.

Kim's voice was barely audible, it was so soft and mumbled now that Ron strained with all his remaining strength to listen to Kim. "I mumble it's mumble."

"Omba Makumba?"

"No, Ron," she was really sounded irritable. "I think it's cramps."

"Oh."

"Turn off the light."

Ron reached over Kim and clicked off the switch which turned the light off on the overhead lamp. Rufus leapt from the bed and curled up at the top of the pillow ready for his sleep.

"Should I do anything?" Ron asked gently.

"You can't," Kim replied. She lifted her head from the sheets to the pillow. "You know the fun we had never leaves this room, right?"

"Hey, I'd never besmirch the Kimness."

"Thanks, but to-night was fun, despite this."

"Totally."

"Night, Ron…"

"Good-night, KP."

Kim scrunched up, her free hand clasped tightly around her stomach and the other resting on the pillow with Ron's attached.

See Kim? You admitted it yourself, you'd never act this free around Josh Mankey… you'd never be able to be all of yourself around him. But you can around me… it's so natural…

Although Ron's eyes were crying for sleep, he still felt a nagging feeling inside of him and knew he was feeling bad for Kim, but there really wasn't anything he could do. At least, not while stuck to Kim. Instead, as a friend, he nestled himself closer to her and placed his own free hand on top of her hand that rested around her aching stomach.

Ron's eyes were already closed when Kim opened hers at the surprise of Ron's actions. But she smiled and accepted his ineffective way of helping. She brought herself closer to him and the two fell asleep underneath the covers.